Gyroscope.



E. N. DARROW.

GYROSOOPE.

I APPLICATION FILED JUNE 23, 19111 1,075,??0. Patented 0011 11913.

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GYROSGOPE.

I APPLICATION FILED JUNE 23, 1911. 1,075,770. Patented 001;. 14, 1913.

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GYEQSOOPE.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 23, 1911.

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l/vi/twwoeo I I 2 2622170 attouwtgo Patented Oct. 14, 1913.

EDW'ARD N. DABBG'N, Q1 HOMER, MICHIGAN.

GYBOSCOPEL [application filed 6 one 23, 191i.

Specification of .Eetters Patent. Par vented Got. fra l, l9

0/11, 2'75 may concern known that I, EDWARD N. Dnnnow, a. citizen of theUnited States, residing at Homer, in the county oi Calhoun and State ofIviichigan, have invented certain new and useful Inmrovcments inGyroscopes; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, andexact description of the invention, such as will enable others sl-zilledin the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

T his invention is an apparatus for steady ing or balancing anyuprightsupport which stands on one of its edges and is therefore unstable tothe extent that itmay tip from side to side or in. a direction at rightangles to the length of said edge. I n the practical use of thisinvention, it is applied or stcadying or balancing vehicles, and by thetcrm vehicle or truck I desire at the ontset to he understood asincluding any conveyance which travels on land or upon a track on thesurface of the earth, or below or above said surface, any boat whichtravels upon beneath the surface of the water. or any air crattthe ideabeing that'it is the purpose of the present invention to steady orbalance such a support or vehicle as againstjts tendency to tip fromside to side. This tendency is not present in con veyanccs which iravelupon wheels whereof at least two are disposed out of alinemeni with eacholher, or more strictly speaking l he tendency is overcome by suchwheels and hence when my invention is applied to a land conveyance itwill he on one wherein the wheels are arranged tandem after the style ofan ordinary bicycle. l have therefore given (he invention ihetille ofgyroeycle and in the following specification l have described itasrelaiingto a land conveyance. reserving the right to apply it to otherkinds of vehicles as above set forth or to any support standing onits-edges.

The object of the invention is to prevent the support from tipping fromone side to the other by utilizing theforce of a con stantly spinningfly wheel wlnch is mounted in the support and preferably in its ownraine) on the gyrcscopic principle. ii. am

aware that heretofore it has been proposed to steady a vehicle (if-thiskind by means or a; gyroscope located within-a frame which was pivotedto .the vehicle truck above its certdehofgrav. so that'thegyroscope orfly wheelflpractiehllyhung suspended'and its own weight or gravitytended to restore its axis to a vertical position Jhen it was swung outof the same; li have discovered, however, that when a gyroscope ismounted or suppor'ed within its frame in such way hicle by connectingthe gyroscope frame with the vehicle truck in a number of ways set forthin the following specification and shown in the drawings in which-Figure 1 is a diagrammatic side elevation of a car mounted on tandemwheels (which is the equivalent of a support standing on and showing theapplication of my invenlion; Fig. 2 is a plan View of the gyroscope andadjacent parts of the vehicle 'l'ruck, certain parts being broken, away;

Fig. 3 is a vertical section on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2; Fig. 3 isascctional detail on the line 3-3f of Fig. 3; Fig. i is a side elevationof a gyrocycle having, two gyroscopes; Fig. 5 is a plan view thereof:Fig. 6 is a vertical section on the line 6-43 of Fig. d I

Fig". '7 is a plan View of a modified form of the gyroscope; F 8 IS atransverse section through this modification, taken on the line 8-8 ofFig. 9; F 9 is a central vertical longitudinal section on the line 9-9of Fig. 8.; Fig. lO-is a trauisverse section of another modified form ofgyroscope, taken on the line 101O of Fig. 11;Fig. 11 is a centralvertical longitudinal section on the line l1-11 of Fig. 10 Fig. 12is acentral vcrtical longitudinal section of another modified form, taken online 12-42015 Fig. 1

13; F 13 is a transverse section on the line 13,-13 of Fig. 12. Figs. 14and 15 arercspect vely a frcntelevatlon and acentral,

fllllilinll sectional view through another wliiicalion of my invention.Figs. 16. and are also a front elevation and a longitw dinal section ofyet another modification, these views illustrating a construction whichshows that it is possible to'h-ave hoth true;

nions of the wheel axle stand within guides when said axle is upright,but to have one of them move out of its guide as soon as the axle tips alittle either to the front or to the rear.

Broadly speaking, the fundamental principle of my invention isillustrated in Figs. 1, 2, 3, and 3 the two former omitting the motorentirely and the last two showing it diagrammatically only for sake ofillustration. The support is shown as a vehicle body V mounted on atruck T which is illustratcd in outline and supported by front and rearwheels W which stand one behind the other in tandem fashion, and wilhave suitable tires and steering mechanism if the device be a bicycle ormotor cycle although the latter would also have its motor (not shown),and if the rim or tire of each wheel is grooved as shown at G the devicehecomes a monorail car and will have its own motor but. will need nosteering device. The purpose of the present invention is to cause such avehicle to stand upright in a stateof equilibrium on its two tandemwheels, and this purpose I accomplish by employing a fly wheel and itsaxle constructed and supported on the gyroscopic principle as will beexplained. The gyroscope in this case con sists of a horizontallydisposed fly wheel 5 having considerable weight and an uptight fixedaxle 6 whose lower extremity is rather short and pointed as at 7 andwhose upper extremity ,or trunnion S is somewhat longer, the formerresting in a step-bearing 9' which rises a considerable distance fromthe bottom of a circular or oval frame 10 whose horizontally oppositepoints are pivoted at 11 within the support (hereinafter called thetruck T), the construction being such that the fly wheel when in placewill stand above a horizontal line drawn through said pivots 1.1 andtherefore the entire gyroscope becomes what might be called top heavy.The circular or oval frame is continuous as shown, and stands in a planeat right angles to the longitudinal line of the support and normallyvertical, and at ts top it car ries a plate 12 rigidly attached to theframe itself and extending forward and backward of it in a plane alongthe center of the ve hicle truck or support, 111 which line this plateis slotted as at 13 to provide a guide for the upper trunnion of theaxle. he slot in this case extends downward toward. the extremitiesof.said plate which are curved downward both forward and backward fromthe point of attachment with the frame for some little distance asshown.

With the parts thus far described, it the device were a toy thegyroscope might be spun by hand and.

while spinning it would right itself longitudinally of the vehicle andright the frame and the vehicle transversely of the line of progress, sothat its efficacy drive the fly wheel at a proper would be preserveduntil its momentum was exhausted. In the practical application of thisinvention to a vehicle of any kind, however, it becomes necessary torotate the wheel by means which form no essential part of the presentinvention, but which I will illustrate diagrammatically andtheoretically for purposes of explanation. Referring then to Figs. 3 and5 wherein one form of electric motor is shown which might well beapplied.

to the various forms of this device, A designates the armature fast uponthe lower end of the axle 6 and rotating between the magnetic fields Fof the motor, the latter being supported. by a yoke Y which in turn maywell be carried by the post 90-which supportsthe step-bearing 9. TheWiring need not. be shown, and the motor is those ordinarily employedexcepting perhaps that its field should curve as seen in Fig. 3 so as topermit the axle 6 of the wheel to swing back and forth over its hearingwithin the step .9. By the use of this or any equivalent practical motorwhich will rate of speed, it will be found that when the parts areproperly proportioned and the wheel has the proper weight and speed ofrotation, it will right itself so that itsaxle stands truly verticalwhile it is spinning and the vehicle is idle or progressing forward; butwhen the latter tips to either side the upper trunnion of the gyroscopicwheel will move slowly forward or backward in its guide the case may be,with the result that the gyroscopic force thus set up will right thevehicle as against its lateral deflection to a true slate of upright.equilibrium and then the gyroscopie wheel will right itself as againstits longitudinal deflection, the rotation of the fly wheel and theprogress of the vehicle being unimpeded.

In connection with the mechanism, above described, certain mechanicaldetails will probably be required F or instance, the step-bearing inwhich the lower trunnion of the wheel is mounted may well be providedwith some ball bearing (not shown) to reduce friction; in order toprevent the wheel from jumping out of this l'icaring and becomingdisplaced through irregularities in the roadway over which the vehicletravels, some means for holding it in place should he provided. such theshoulder 14 on its upper trunnion which may travel beneath the plate l2at either side of the guide slot therein; and for starting the gyroscopesome means may be provided for holding its up per trunnion at the centerof the length of the guide slot, such for instance as now to bedescribed.

In Figs. 2 and 3 is shown a gravity catch 20 whose curved hody lies overand slides upon one side of the frame of the gyroscopic wheel and hasslots 21 engaged hy-pins or much like insane screws 22 rising from saidframe. The up per and inner end of this catch has n box or head 23provided in its lower with a groove or slot E i-extending longitudinallyof the catch and al righl angles to guide slot above described, and thisgroove is of a width to loosely receive obe upper irunnion of the wheel.in order to slurs the lull-er, the caicli is moved manually upward soshe:- iss groove or guide crosses the plate 12 at right angles to theslot 13 in tire luster and the upper trunnion of ihe fiy w licel standsin both, tllien the cooler is started or JlM-E electric current switched{amend after the wheel lion.

has been speeded p to a proper point, t ne conch is released and dropsback so l bel; its box moves oil the plate and its guide releases theupper r-runni-on of the wheel which letter'ie lherefore free to movebackward or forward in the manner 'slbove clcscri'lied. i call thisdetail a star-ting device because some euc li mechanism is necessary lohold the axle of the fiy Wheel uprighi; when it is sia tionai'y i lstop-heavy condition wool d cause it to fall over; tl1e mechanism is alsonecessary when this wheel is being started, and ii must be of suchcharacter that it fol ls or moves out of position nicer bloc wheel isstarted and when the gyroscopic action takes place. It is to beunderstood, however, that I do not confine myself to the details of construction just set forth, but this illustration and description is givenmerely no show one form of starting device which may well be employed inconnection with the broad principle of my invention. After the wheelrunning and this catch falls out of engagiment with its upper trunnion,the latter moves irorwnrd and backward within the slot in the guidewhich should. be sulficienlly wide 'to permit freedom of movement butsuliicicni'ly narrow to cause the upper trunnion to contact with one ofills edges, accordinglo which way the vehicle lips, as l consider thisfriclional contact necessary lo the successful operation of: thegyroscope for the purposes to which it is put in this conncc In Figs. 4and 6 l have shown an ui'n'ilb v. I s n ficntion oi my broad idcn to theextent or illustrating lJOlll blunt: "the vcluclc may runtuin up'lnmllliy o'l gyroscopcs and final ono of them might be mounlcd\\'ll,ll!ll one of the \vlzccls tlicrcoi. llcrem the frame or truck ofthe vehicle is (ll ignulcd by ilzo loltcr 'l,

one of its wheels is indicated only by a cirthis cage or between itsUVG'lHXl'JS is mounted the gyroscope and ils fro-me just above dol'ruclrfor the vehicle limdy.

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scribed, the axles of said hubs forming the pivots for the frame of ihegyroscope. It will be clear at oncc ill-lib the power for driving agyroscopic wheel rotating in o. horizontal plane within a supportingwheel ro "rating in a vertical plane must be carried hrougli tho hubs orEIilQS of flu: latter, either by shaft or wire, but l do not consider itnecess ry to illustrate this detail. The balancing aclion of thegyroscope in this cmistrucl'ion is the some in that above described, andmore room is allowed on the li quite obvio'us llnrt rile other wheelcould bu similarly provided wit-l1 unol'iicr gyroscope, although in thisview I have shown the scco-nd gyroscope as mounted midi-my of lllG truckand somewlml; dillerenily consi rucsed 'i inunncr which will now bc docribcd,

In Figs. 8, 9, and 10 l have shown another modification or amplificationof this. generel idea, and these views also show the step boa-ringson'iewliet lower'within the frame ring and the pivots of tlielutter asbelow the points where the supporting yoke is connected with the vehicletruck or frame. Herein the numeral 5 designates the same horizontallydisposed fly wheel whose axle has iis lowerextrcmity pointed at 7 andresting in a step beziring 9 within a fraruorin-g 10 standingtransversely of the vehicle truck T. The upper trunnion 8 is journaledin the frame-ring 10 as with the construction illustrated in Figs 4 and5 and extends through it and moves within a long slot 49 in a guide 48which is connected with a horizontal ring 50. But the frame-ring 10 ispivoted at 60 within the horizontal ring 50 and the latter instead ofbeing rigid is pivoted cl 61 within the guide &8 which in the presentinstance extends around beneath the frame ring; and its lowest pointisrigidly attached to a yoke 63 whose arms pass upward and are in turnpivoted at points 64 lo the vehicle truck above the pivots in theframe-ring and the horizontal ring. The result is 111m; as the vehicletips from side to sin 0, inc side walls of {he s ot 49 come inlaocul'ion oi l'llis lusl modification, wherein l have just slnfcd llmlllll. upper lrunnion 8 of lllG lly wliccl moves in the long slot 49. lnbis amplification. llic guide 48 is continued completely around witninno 'liorizonlul ring as one member and is made grooved or of U-slmpc incross section as seen at 480, sollml boil: the upper trunnion S andljllO boll, 9'1 at the boiloin of the step bearing 'l' 90 may traveltherein (lie frame-ring" ill swings lori'vurd and backward or theveliicle frame rises or falls at its ends on CID grades. The circularguide 48 is supported by a semi-circular yoke 481, the ends which arepivoted in the vehicle frame, as shown at Q82; and also by curved braces4:83 to securely hold the same in position.

Yet another modification is shown in Figs. 12 and 13 wherein thegyroscope and its frame-ring are omitted for the sake of clearness.llere the guide 48 having the long slot for the upper trunnion issecured within a horizontal ring 50 and the action is much the same asabove described for these parts. The modification in this instanceconsists in providing two braces 510 extending transversely from theguide 48 to and connected with the horizontal ring 50 and dependingbelow the latter as at 511 in arms which approach the lower trunnion ofthe tly wheel and carry weights 512. The latter are herein shown ashaving set screws 51 by means of which they may be adjusted on saidarms. This modification typifies but one means which may be employed forcausing the fly wheel and it s frame-ring to be more evenly balanced,although it will be clear that by adjusting the step-bearing up and downwithin the. frame-ring the same end may be attained. When thestep-bearing is low as seen in Figs. 8 and 9 and the pivots (30 whichsupport the frame-ring are below the level of the vehicle truck '1, the

supporting yoke may be pivotally connected with this frame at the point470 instead of rigidly connected therewith as otherwise would benecessary, and obviously this modilication is possible when the weightsare employed, especially if the latter be adjustable.

In Figs. 14: and 15 is shown a construction wherein the frame ring 10*has holes or pivots 1O at opposite sides and below its vertical center,and within them are mounted the trunnions 10 of a cross bar l0 which hasan oval hole through its center.

' lVithin this hole stands a block 9- having frame ring carries rigidlydianietuically opposite trunnions 9" stand-- ing at right angles to thetrunnion ll) and pivot ally mounted in the cross bar 10, and within saidblock the lower trunnion ll of the tly wheel is journaled. The top ofthe slotted guide 10 standing at right angles to the plane in which thering stands and curving over a line taken through the trunnions of therock bar; and the construction is such that the entire gyroscopic wheelmay swing forward and backward slightly within its frame ring as therock bar turns upon its trunnions, and it may swing from side to sideasthe block 9 rocks on its trunnions 9 within the reel; bar, thelooseness of its upper trunnion S" within the slotted guide 1O permittinIn this case both the wheel itself and the combined wheel and frame ringare what might be called top heavy.

In the Figs. 16 and 17 is shown another a gyroscope consisting of thefly novawo modification wherein the gyroscopic wheel 5 has trunnions andpro ecting' at equal distances above and below it so that it is neithertop heavy nor pendant, but stands at the vertical center of its framering. 10,

and the guide 4& stands wholly at one: side of said frame ring and hasslots or grooves 49 at the top and at) at the bottom. The

length of the guide 48 is such that-it is a little greater than one halfthe size of the frame ring 10, so that when the axle of the fly wheelstands upright as shown in Fig. 15, its trunnion 70 engages the slot orgroove 4-9 and ts trunnion 80 engages the slot or groove 49simultaneously. When however the vehicle tips slightly or for any reasonthe gyroscopic-whecl is thrown out of a truevertical, one trunnionpasses slightly farther into its groove and the other trunnion leavesits groove entirely so that the latter has no friction and the frictionof the former is not increased. The forms illustrated by thisn'iodilication are merely suggestive, and it will be unnecessary to gointo the details of construction further than have been described. 1consider it. a preferable form of construction in negotiating curvesthat the guide 48 shall stand either entirely forward or entirely to therear of the axle of the gyroscopic wheel, to which extent thismodification differs radically from that illustrated in Figs. 10 and 11where the guide entirely surrounds the wheel'and where friction of bothtrunnions thereof is constant.

Thus it will be seen that I haveprodnced wheel and its frame-ring, whichmay be said to be top-heavy because of the position of the pivots bywhich said ring is supported, and wherein under the variousmodifications and anmlitications set forth the upper or lower or bothtrunnions of the fly Wheel are permitted to have forward and backwardprecession within a slotted or grooved guide (itself fixed or movable)and in frictional contact with one or the other side thereof as the casemay be, so that when the support or vehicle tips to either side thegyroscope rights it trai'isversely and then rights itselflongitudinally.

' What is claimed as new is:

1. A gyroscope comprisingn tly wheel having a norn'ially upright axle, aframering having a step-hearing in which the lower trunnion of said axleis ournaled, a guide forthe upper trunnion standing in a plane at anangle to that of said ring, and a movable catch having a groove at anangle to the length of said guide and adapted to be brought intotemporary engagement with said upper trunnion, for the purpose setforth;

A gyroscope comprising a fly wheel having a normally upright axle, aframering having a bearing in which the lower trunnion of said axle isjournaled, a guide for the upper trunnion standing in a plane at rightangles to that of said ring, and a catch mounted movably on said framering and having a head provided with a groove in its under side standingat anang'le to said guide and movable into. temporary engagement withsaid upper trunnion, forthe purpose set forth.

3. A gyroscope comprising a .fiy wheelhaving a normally upright axle, aframe .ring having a bearingin which the lower f trunnion of said axleis journaled, a guide by the ring between said points, and a guide-.carried by the ring opposlte said hearing,

for the upper trunnion standing in a plane at right angles to that ofsaid ring, and a starting device comprising a slotted catch movablymounted on the frame-rill and having a groove adapted to engage saidupper trunnion at right angles to the length of said guide, and pins insaidring loosely engaging the slots of the catch.

i. A gyroscope comprising a fly wheel having a fixed axle,a frame ringpivotally supported 'at'd-iametrically op osite points, a caring for oneend of said axle carried said of said axle, and a plate rigidly' mountedupon andacross the top of the frame and having a slot'for the uppertrunnion of axle. 6. A gyrose'epe comprising a, fly wheel a framepivotally supported in a normally bearing within the frame for the.lower end of said axle, a guide carried rigidly by said frame and havinga slot for the upper trunnionof the axle, which slot stands in a planeat right angles to that of the frame, and

means for locking said trunnion temporarily at the mid-length of suchslot. .Y

7. A gyroscopecomprising anormally upright frame ring pivot-ally mountedacross an'unstable support, a cross bar pivoted across the interior ofthe ring below the .5-

pivotal line of the latter andhaving a hole through its center, a blockmounted in such hole on pivots transverse to the line, of said bar andcontaining a .step bearing, a slotted guide extending across the top ofthe frame,

a fly wheel, and an axle through it whose lower trunnion is mounted insaid bearing and Whose upper trunnion is movably disposed in said guide.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of twosubscribing witnesses.

. EDWARD N. nA'nRoW. Witnesses: I

-MYRON H. NICHOLS,

RAYMOND .0. SMITH.

upnght plane across an unstable support, a

0 having a normally p g t axle through it,

